Algeria in 2002

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Despite major efforts by the Algerian army throughout 2002, violence continued to erupt in many parts of the country, including the capital. By October at least 1,200 persons had died. Algiers faced the reintroduction of security barriers, removed two years earlier, despite the dismantling of a major terrorist cell in August. Although Antar Zouabri—the head of the Armed Islamic Group—was killed in February, Hassan Hattab’s Islamist guerrilla group, Salafist Group for Call and Combat, extended its control over parts of Kabylia and the Skikda region.

Algerians continued to protest poor living conditions. In the central and eastern parts of the country, riots ensued over water supplies and poor administration. In addition, only 46.7% of the electorate voted in the May 30 legislative elections; it was the lowest turnout in any election since independence. The elections produced a dramatic turnaround in the fortunes of the former single party, the National Liberation Front (FLN), which trounced its rival, the National Democratic Rally (RND), to become the largest party by far in the Assembly, with 199 of the 389 seats. The event was marred, however, by a boycott in Kabylia by both Berber parties, the Socialist Forces Front (FFS) and the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD); there the turnout was only 2%.

In the local elections held on October 10, however, the FFS participated. The “citizens movement”—created from the local groups that had reacted to government oppression in 2001—promised to fight for the boycott to continue. The group sought government concessions as outlined in the May 2001 El Kseur Platform. These involved the granting of regional autonomy, the recognition of Tamazight as an official language, the removal of the gendarmerie—held responsible for oppression that had involved up to 100 deaths—from Kabylia, and the punishment of those officials directly responsible. The government had partially conceded by registering Tamazight in the constitution as a national language and withdrawing the gendarmerie from Kabylia in April.

Nonetheless, election day was marked by riots, and in many communities in Kabylia, voting did not take place. The FLN was the overall victor, winning control of 668 of 1,541 town councils and 43 of 48 provincial councils. The Islamic parties suffered a decline in support except for El-Islah, which won control of 39 councils. The RCD again did badly, as did the FFS, because of the boycott in Kabylia, where the turnout was about 2%, compared with a national average of 52%.

In June, Gen. Khaled Nezzar—former defense minister and a key figure in the 1992 army-backed coup—sued Habib Souaidia, a former sublieutenant and author of La sale guerre (2001), in a Paris court for defamation. Souaidia asserted that during the war against Islamic extremists Algerian troops tortured rebels and killed them in cold blood while disguising themselves as rebels. The trial judge reserved judgment in the case and warned that there could be no penalty “because this touches upon history”—to the regime’s embarrassment. Relations with the United States continued to improve. In April, Algeria signed an association agreement with the European Union. Foreign currency reserves rose to nearly $22.5 billion for the year as a result of buoyant oil prices and Algerian overproduction of almost 46% by year’s end.